The Work of the Master Pumpkin Carver

The Work of the Master Pumpkin Carver
Originally uploaded by musicmuse_ca.

Bay Area Pumpkin Festival photoset on Flickr.com

The photographer says:

Many of the traditions we follow in the USA for Halloween come straight from Celtic beliefs and practices handed down from ancient times to today.

The Celts believed that the veil between this world and the "other world" was thinnest during the festival of Samhain, now known as Halloween. It was a fire festival, and sacred bonfires were lit on the top of high hills, like Arthur's Seat, during this time.

The Celts believed that the souls of the dead could return to this world during Samhain, because the border between life and death became permeable at this dark time of year.

The Celtic tradition of carving scary images into turnips was an effort to ward off any evil spirits travelling the land when the veil was lifted. In the United States, the pumpkin was substituted for the traditional Celtic turnip.